Lady in red

Her mother's from Charleville, Co. Cork and her husband has just been sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. I can't get over the fact that the Irish media hasn't picked up on this yet. (Full disclosure - I know this woman's extended family and have stayed in the house she and John Roberts have an one eighth interest in down in Knocklong, Co. Limerick. I didn't know all that when I wrote this.). I didn't see one reference to the Jane Sullivan's Irish connection in the Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, or the Irish Times.

I can't help wondering if this is a sign of waning interest in Irish-America or simply embarrassment at the Bush connection.

Was John O'Shea right?

This was from a couple of days ago, but I didn't get around to mentioning it. It seems that despite the Irish government's pledge to send this and that to America to help in the post-Katrina clean-up that those resources were never requested by the US authorities.

A few weeks ago O'Shea annoyed his American directors when he denounced the government's decision to send money and other resources to help with the post-Katrina recovery. O'Shea was angry because he had been seeking some of these other resources for years to help in Africa, but the government here was disinclined. Was O'Shea right after all? Well, maybe, but I suspect the Irish government was fully aware that it's offer would not be taken up. Being seen to be helpful was all that mattered.

In fairness to O'Shea he was never as upset about the money as he was the offer of troops and supplies. O'Shea has never given me the feeling that he's a knee-jerk anti-American. This tirade sounded bad, but really it's more negative towards the Irish government (& the Irish Army too) than it is towards the US.

Great weekend ahead

Sidney Zion says that New York Democrats don't care about Tom DeLay's trouble or Bush or anything other than one pressing question: Will the Yankees top the Sox? Boston is hosting the Yankees and as long as one of them loses, I'll be happy. There's still the unhappy prospect that both teams may qualify for the playoffs, which means Cleveland MUST get hot again.

Truthfully, all I really want is good, exciting games. Should be great.

Oh yeah, as for the fighting Mets, well, next year is only six months away.

More on the media and Katrina

This article from the Los Angeles Times provides more details of the rumors that were circulated by the press. For the most part I've focused on the impact the media's coverage had on the response of those who were trying to deal with Katrina's wide-spread destruction. However, it's also true that the most lurid stories were circulated world-wide, undermining the image and the prestige of the United States.

Supposedly, Tony Blair denounced the BBC because it was "'full of hatred of America' and 'gloating'" over the Katrina disaster. What's interesting is that he supposedly denounced the BBC to Rupert Murdoch. I watched a lot of Katrina coverage and I can tell you that I didn't detect any greater "hatred of America" on the BBC than on Murdoch's SKY News. In fact, my impression at the time was that the situation sounded worse on SKY than it did on the BBC. And, Murdoch's FOX News was one of the prime rumor-mongers upon which anti-Americans the world over feasted.

I wish I had the time to go back and review the coverage - television, radio and newspapers - that we got here from both British and Irish sources.

Louisiana

From Monday's Wall Street Journal:

No state turns out better demagogues than Louisiana--the state that Huey Long ruled with an near-fascistic fist and that inspired the new Sean Penn version of "All the King's Men" that hits movie theaters this November. While the Bush administration and Congress aren't in danger of being fried as witches, they better figure out that they and the taxpayers are about to be fleeced like sheep as they ship south $62 billion in emergency aid with few controls or safeguards.

More will be coming. Last week, Louisiana's two senators didn't even blink when they asked the feds for an ultimate total of $250 billion in assistance just for their state. "We recognize that it's a very high number," Sen. Mary Landrieu admitted. "But this is an unprecedented national tragedy and needs an unprecedented national response."

Even if the total ends up far short of that figure, the opportunity for fraud and waste will be unprecedented. "We're getting a lot of calls" on emergency aid abuses, reports Gen. Richard Skinner, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general. Last week, police officers found a treasure trove of food, drinks, chainsaws and roof tarps in the home of Cedric Floyd, chief administrative officer for the Jefferson Parish suburb of Kenner. Mr. Floyd is one of several city workers who will likely be charged with pilfering.

As the Washington Post noted yesterday, the $250bn sought by Senators Landrieu and Vitter would "cost more than the Louisiana Purchase under the Jefferson administration on an inflation-adjusted basis." And, Jefferson got a lot more for his money than the government's going to get today.

Water, water everywhere . . .

It's not a total surprise to me, but I'm sure it is to many of the people who live in this area. Nearly all of northeast Wicklow (Bray to Wicklow Town) will be without water for at least 24 hours from 7pm tonight. This is to facilitate "maintenance work being carried out by Dublin City Council at the Vartry Water Treatment Works". So, our local area is going to be without water due to work being carried out by Dublin City Council. There is a crude question that could easily follow this sort of information, but I'll just settle for "What on Earth?".

A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from my local (Green Party - yes, I know, me & the Green Party) town councilor informing me that the water was going to be turned off. Then there were more e-mails with new dates for the work. Eventually I called the town offices and I was told that there would be a lot of publicity when the time came to switch off the water. Well, now that the day is here I have to say that the only mention I found was on the local radio station. And, I only tuned in today because the most recent e-mail had told me today was definitely the day.

I know I'm not the only one who doesn't listen to the local station - the music goes right through my brain. I don't remember seeing anything about this in last week's Wicklow Times, but maybe I missed it. Regardless, it's well past time that the local authorities got their act together.

There is no reason why people in this area are not notified of major events - like no water for a day - by text message. Everyone has a mobile phone. In fact, I'd nearly bet that there are as many homes with mobile phones as there are homes with televisions. The local authorities should have an opt-in list of mobile numbers that they text when there is a significant local event. This would surely reach more people than ads on a local station that is, after all, just another top 40 music station.

Ya gotta love America

Thanks to a tip from Eddie, I found this genuine treat (link fixed), A Citizen's Guide to Roundabouts. It's a six page brochure explaining roundabouts to Americans. Despite the fact that in Ireland roundabouts are more common than puddles, I think the roundabout was the subject of one, maybe two, lines in the driving instructions book published by the government.

The brochure makes all the roundabouts looks so easy and safe. It doesn't seem like there are too many of the extra small, mini-roundabouts we have here. Or the mega-roundabouts either. You know, those three lane roundabouts where you have to go from the inside lane to the exit in one quick maneuver.

Inside the Dome

One lesson I thought I'd learned from September 11 is that what the press reports is often way off when the story is big. The press struggles to get a grip on the truth and rumors dominate the coverage.

I tried to bear this in mind during those emotional days immediately after Katrina hit New Orleans. Still, it was hard not to get caught up in what we were being told. One post-Katrina rumor was that the violence was rife inside the Superdome and the Convention Center. It turns out, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as we were led to believe according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

As the fog of warlike conditions in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath has cleared, the vast majority of reported atrocities committed by evacuees have turned out to be false, or at least unsupported by any evidence, according to key military, law enforcement, medical and civilian officials in positions to know.

"I think 99 percent of it is bulls---," said Sgt. 1st Class Jason Lachney, who played a key role in security and humanitarian work inside the Dome. "Don't get me wrong, bad things happened, but I didn't see any killing and raping and cutting of throats or anything. ... Ninety-nine percent of the people in the Dome were very well-behaved."

And, there was no surge in the number of murders in all of New Orleans. The four confirmed murders is consistent with a normal week in New Orleans.

So, what of the media's role in the foul-ups in post-Katrina New Orleans? Will there be any reckoning, any acknowledgement that the media's desire to sell papers and attract viewers led them to report every exaggeration, every rumor?

It's easy for the major media to wash their hands of responsibility, but in this case what if the media reports caused bus drivers to opt not to go to New Orleans to help get those people out of the Dome and Convention Center? It's pretty clear that the media's reporting created a climate of fear that diverted resources that could have been used to relieve those in the shelters and rescue those trapped throughout the city.

Will there be a mass media mea culpa? Will pigs fly?

Oh yeah, I should add that the Mayor and others in his office should have waited for confirmation before talking about people being raped and killed inside the Superdome.

Americans see the light (or not)

The Albany Times-Union reports that New York State is adopting the roundabout in lieu of traffic lights to manage traffic at intersections. I suppose the plan has some merits, but I'm sure there are a lot of Irish drivers who'll be saying, "Maybe not a great idea". Roundabouts seem to breed like rabbits.

Roundabouts are taking over the roadways in Dublin. More and more small intersections are getting roundabouts to replace stop signs. Some of the intersections where roundabouts have been installed are so tight that I think the road engineers are using a large coin for the outline of the roundabout. Anything larger than a bicycle has trouble negotiating the bends in these little roundabouts.

Lovely Rita

When I was a kid all hurricanes had female names (changed to be politically correct, I'm sure). I'm not sure why this was, but I remember someone telling me it was because the storms were too unpredictable. Nobody knew what a hurricane was going to do.

Anyway, Rita sure seems confused. She can't seem to decide whether she wants to go to Bloomingdale's (Galveston) or Macy's (Port Arthur) or even some point further east. Regardless, she's gonna cry her eyes out once she gets ashore and finds nothing there that she likes.

RITA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12
INCHES...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 15 INCHES OVER
SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS AND SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA AS IT MOVES INLAND.
SINCE RITA IS FORECAST TO SLOW DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER MAKING
LANDFALL...TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF 25 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE
OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS ACROSS EASTERN TEXAS AND WESTERN
LOUISIANA. IN ADDITION...RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE
POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW
ORLEANS.

25 inches of rain! If you were enterprising you could fill a big tank with Rita rain and sell it in bottles.

"Wealthiest country in the world"

Last night BBC Newsnight's Gavin Esler had a very good report on poverty in America. What he had to say on poverty and race was covered by me and the commenters here and here and elsewhere below. It was actually when he started discussing health care that it struck me that he seems not to realize that there are economic trade-offs that every society makes with regards to economic dynamism and government provided services.

Esler used the phrase "the wealthiest country in the world" a few times when discussing the cost of health care in America. And, from his perspective - citizen of a country with a fully funded, available to all, public health system - it is amazing that so many people in the US find health care too expensive. He mentioned, but glossed over, the fact that most people who don't have health insurance in America are actually employed.

He never asked why is health insurance so expensive that so many people cannot or will not buy it. He implied that this is a failure of government not stepping in to provide health care for these people.

This is what I find annoying about the BBC and RTE. They talk about America being "the wealthiest country in the world" (is it? I guess it is.) without ever asking why is America "the wealthiest country in the world". They never seem to consider whether the economic dynamism comes from the same roots as the failure to provide health care. These are the choices that people have to make.

In Europe, the state provides all sorts of benefits that - free health care, paid maternity leave, substantial welfare, etc. - that the neither the state nor the federal government in the US provides. In Europe you have a stagnant economy with a generous safety net and in the US you have the opposite.

I can't see why in his report Esler couldn't have simply made that point, but I actually think he's unaware of the economic realities.

You Heard it Here First

The Washington Post today had an editorial complaining that while Congress and the White House are "fortresses with mini armies and high-tech equipment galore," the rest of the area remains highly vulnerable to terrorist attack. Four years after Sept. 11 and four years after the unsolved anthrax bioterrorism attacks, not much has changed in terms of D.C. residents' safety -- in spite of a whole lot of money having been spent. Um, well, yes. I think I read about that somewhere, in an Irish blog....

Meanwhile, Katrina has had an enormous impact on the local psyche. I recall a friend telling me of a near-riot over duct-tape in a local hardware store a couple of years ago when Tom Ridge told everyone that they should be prepared to "shelter in place," but that seemed to affect mostly the more high-strung among us. (I ignored the duct-tape advice myself -- the thought of being taped into a closet with my three small children, eating tuna fish out of a can and trying to listen to the radio, was enough to convince me to take my chances. Not to mention that I could never figure out how we were going to have enough oxygen, anyway.) But this time around several people I've talked to have suddenly volunteered that they've put together survival kits for their familes, just in case.....

Katrina relief efforts are everywhere. In our neighborhood, kids participated in "Operation Backpack," which gathered backpacks full of school supplies for Katrina's kids. My daughter's elementary school has adopted a school in Mississippi, raising several thousand dollars to send to them. There are Katrina benefit lemonade stands dotting the bike trails, Katrina cookies sold on several corners, and you can drop off donations at every restaurant and store you walk into. We went to see a play last Saturday night, and the actors stood outside afterward, collecting money for the Red Cross. (I'm a little concerned about the organization of all this money, but that's a subject for another post.)

The other day I overheard my daughter and her friend playing with a dollhouse in her room. "The hurricane's coming," they cried, and when I went in to see what was up, they'd moved all the dollhouse furniture to the third floor and the dolls were perched on the roof.

Yikes. And along came Rita.

Learning from Katrina

People seem to be evacuating in great numbers. I wonder if this will cause problems too. One million people are apparently evacuating or going to evacuate from the Houston area. For those on this side of the Atlantic who may not know, Houston is a big city. Bigger than Dublin (around 2m inside the city limits alone) and about 4 times as big as New Orleans. Evacuating the city is no small feat. Traffic is "bumper to bumper" for 100 miles heading inland.

One other lesson learned. People are arming themselves.

If this storm weakens substantially before making landfall then all of this will look silly and excessive. And, how many people – particularly those in hospitals or nursing homes – will have needlessly died or suffered in the panic to get out. I don't envy those who have to make these decisions.

God hates Mardi Gras

That's all I can figure. First New Orleans, now Galveston.

Each year, more than half a million people gather in the streets of Galveston Island to participate in the largest Mardi Gras celebration in Texas. For 12 days and 11 nights the island is electrified by the sounds of live music, spectacular parades, elaborate masked balls, and flamboyant costumes.

You just knew all that debauchery was leading to no good.

Corpus Christi, TX

The other day my daughter asked me about Corpus Christi, Texas. The name of the city had made an impact on her and she wanted to know more about it. Living in a city called "Body of Christ" struck her as a little odd. Of course I knew there was a city on the Gulf Coast of Texas called Corpus Christi, but I'd never given much thought to the name. Only when she asked me about it did I think, "Yeah, that is strange".

So, I decided to see what I could find about Corpus Christi and where it got its name. I knew it had to be Spanish Catholics who founded the town, but didn't know much else.

The Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi provides this short history.

In 1747 José de Escandón commissioned an expedition to map the area south of the Presidio of La Bahía. Don Joaquín Orobio Y Basterra with 25 men and one priest reached the mouth of the Nueces River and named the bay he found San Miguel Arcángel. In 1766 the mission and Presidio of La Bahía was moved for the fourth time to its present location in Goliad. It was from here, responding to rumors that the "English" had landed somewhere south and east along the coast, Don Diego Ortiz Parrilla lead an expedition to the Gulf. Although he found no "English" he did re-map the area and re-named the bay Corpus Christi.

Still doesn't tell me why the name "Corpus Christi". However, if I'm reading this right it seems that the name was actually given to the bay in the 16th century.

The first European to explore this area was Captain Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, who was commissioned by the Spanish Governor of Jamaica in 1519 to explore the coast with four ships and 270 men in hopes of finding a water passage to the Orient. De Pineda mapped the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Vera Cruz (in present-day Mexico) including what was then known as "La Isla Blanca" (the White Island), which later became known as Padre Island. Legend claims he also discovered a small bay on June 24, 1519 which he named for the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi, which was celebrated on that day.

Not all that relevant, but a little fact to file away as Rita bears down on the region this weekend.

New Orleans housing

I'd like to imagine that S. Frederick Starr is correct that many of New Orleans's homes can be saved. If not, I hope that some of the knowledge and skills of those 19th century architects and engineers who built much of New Orleans can be employed again.

In the 19th century, local craftsmen devised structural techniques that allowed houses to stand securely on the city's pudding-like alluvial soil, and to survive in the region's notoriously humid climate, with its insects, termites and mold. In place of the heavy, water-absorbing brick-between-post construction that had been used earlier, or the brick masonry common on higher ground in the city, they began using light balloon frames, self-reinforcing structures of two-by-four joists that could be raised above ground on brick or stone piers. For these frames they used local cypress wood, which resists both water and rot, and for secondary woods they favored local cedar, which is nearly as weatherproof as cypress, and dense virgin pine.

The builders also used circulating air to ward off mold. Ten- to twelve-foot ceilings in even the smallest homes, as well as large windows, channel the slightest breeze throughout the house. And by raising the structures above the ground, builders assured that air would circulate beneath them as well, discouraging termites and rodents.

European Car Free Day

Good for Dublin City Council. Local government has very limited powers in Ireland, but it's nice to see that Dublin's government is exercising what little power it has and snubbing the Minister and ignoring European Car Free Day.

Slidell in the Irish press

This paper's (Daily Ireland) web site doesn't date the articles and I can't remember how long ago I found this, but it's at least two weeks ago. Regardless, it's another good illustration of the power of Hurricane Katrina and it talks about Slidell, LA, which commenter Eddie feels has been ignored by the press.

"I consider myself real lucky," Croll told Daily Ireland. "It's like a bomb hit some of the houses. The only thing left is some of the pilings." Pointing to a house lying half submerged in a canal across the street, he said: "This house here was about two miles down the road on the left-hand side, on the other side of the Bayou.

It's almost impossible to imagine there's another massive storm heading towards the coast. There'll be nothing left from Brownsville to Pensacola.

RITA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 13 MPH AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 140 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. RITA IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SOME ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND COULD REACH CATEGORY FIVE INTENSITY IN THE CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO.

New Orleans follow-up

More from the Washington Post today on the 'levees' and what caused the failures. Despite all the talk about the levees only being strong enough to withstand a category 3 hurricane (Katrina was category 4) the storm should not have caused a failure in the levee system. The flood-walls/levees should have held:

scientists and engineers at Louisiana State University's Hurricane Center have concluded that Katrina's surges did not come close to overtopping those barriers. That would make faulty design, inadequate construction or some combination of the two the likely cause of the breaching of the floodwalls along the 17th Street and London Avenue canals -- and the flooding of most of New Orleans.

All the bleating about under-funding is growing less and less credible.

Read this and this if you want to get some idea of the power of Katrina as it came ashore.

If you want to watch the sequel – Katrina II or Rita – check-in regularly with Brendan Loy.

Note to self

Never again try to fix anything to do with the washing machine at 10:40pm.